


Jinx it

by Tayani



Series: Witch AU [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Familiars, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Softness, Strangers to Lovers, Witch AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-10 02:22:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16461626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tayani/pseuds/Tayani
Summary: Goro Akechi ran away from humans. He locked himself away in a lonely hut, in the middle of a forest, surrounded himself with jinxes and walls to keep others away. He didn't need anyone else; he didn't want to be hurt or used anymore.He was perfectly content to live his peaceful, lonely life brewing potions and studying magic just for the sake of it.That is, until one day, certain Akira Kurusu fell right into his life.





	Jinx it

There was only one thing Goro Akechi hated about living in the literal middle of the forest – and that was birds.

Not that he hated the _concept_ of birds existing in particular. Merla was alright, when she wasn’t being sassy with him or demanding food. Or trying to talk him into travelling to the nearest town to buy her a bag of eyeballs to snack on.

No, what he hated was the fact that right the moment the bloody sun rose up and shone through the treetops, the damn screechers started yelling their little lungs out about how much they didn’t appreciate other birds on their territory, how they were hungry and how much they wanted to get laid.

Sometimes, understanding a lot of bird-speech was a true curse.

With a groan, Goro rolled out from his bed and fell to the wooden floor of his hut; the soft carpet he had finished sewing just last week softening the fall somewhat, though not enough for him to keep on sleeping on the slightly harder surface. Instead – and with another groan – he slowly dragged himself up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looking around the room.

His hut was wooden and rather small – of course, more than big enough for one person and their crow. It was a one-room place, with a little corner with kitchen, a fireplace, another corner with a comfortable bed and few chests for his clothes. The rest of the walls were covered in bookshelves – the hut almost looked like a library thanks to that, and near his bed, up on the wall, was a perch with a comfortable nest on which Merla was currently sat, her head under her wing.

Goro sighed and looked out of the window. Judging by the green-tinged sunlight streaming into his hut through the tree leaves, it was still extremely early in the morning, and the birds were singing so loud he almost wished he, too, had a wing to cover his ears with.

The boy shook his head and stretched, grabbing a few things from one of the chests and stoking the fire in his fireplace; the cauldron, which was usually filled with bubbling potions of various kinds, a lot of which were placed carefully on special shelves near the kitchen, stoppered in neat little vials, now only contained water. Once it heated, Goro poured it into the basin and washed himself quickly. He dressed, pulling his witch hat onto his freshly dried and brushed hair and smiled, pouring the water out carefully over his herb garden outside.

Today promised to be another nice, quiet day, filled with study, potion-making and quiet banter with his only companion in this forgotten place, who – despite being a bird – in Goro’s opinion was just as capable of being proper company as any other human, if not more.

Goro continued to smile as he marched to the kitchen and got started on breakfast for the two of them – and that’s when he heard a vague screaming, a sound of tree-branches snapping, and then a black-haired guy in glasses cuddling a cat fell through his roof and right on top of his head.

 

* * *

 

“…so three broken ribs?”

“Three ribs, both legs and fractured arm. Frankly, he’s lucky he didn’t break his neck while falling. Even more lucky he didn’t  break _my_ neck while falling _on top of me_.”

“That cut is bleeding a lot.”

“I’m working on it, alright?”

A pained groan and a jerk of the raven-haired boy’s arm seemed to silence the conversation; and soon, Goro’s hands were on his patient again, his hat missing, his hair all tousled and his face pale as he frowned and ripped the other’s shirt a little more to reveal the ugly cut running from his side all the way to his bellybutton. He must have caught up with some nail while he was falling through the roof, Goro decided; and in a swift motion, reached for the water he prepared beforehand and started to wash the cut quickly.

“Get me the red vial from the top shelf, please.” he mumbled, and with a swoosh of wings, his crow flew to the shelf with potions and took a look around, before carefully pulling out the vial Goro requested and carrying it to him obediently.

“This one is going to hurt him more.” she said, in a voice croaky and very much like a… well, a caw. Goro stared at her coldly as he unstoppered the vial and poured its contents generously over the stranger’s wound, smirking as it steamed – and the stranger in question let out a small scream and tensed up.

“Your point?” he replied, throwing the empty vial away and pulling out a needle and a thread, starting to sew up the wound.

Broken bones were a bit trickier than that. Broken bones, he had to feel up and straighten up himself, using his magic to guide them gently onto their places and then put what casts he could put together in his little hut in the middle of nowhere to keep them from shifting. Once the raven woke up, he’d be given potions that would help with the bones growing back together – until then, however…

Goro frowned, staring at the raven’s handsome – is somewhat scratched and bruised-up – face. He didn’t want him here. He didn’t want company. But then… how could he just throw him out, to bleed to death or get eaten by wolves..?

“So… what are you going to do with him?” Merla cawed quietly, hopping onto Goro’s arm and nudging his cheek with her beak softly, in an almost affectionate manner. Goro’s arm went up mechanically, petting her over the beak, which made her coo softly at him.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll get him sorted out, probably make him repay me for the damage somehow and throw him out, hopefully.” he murmured, and then turned his head to the side to look at his crow.

“How’s the cat?”

“Breathing. Not looking like anything’s wrong with him, he just probably got knocked out by the fall. The human was protecting him. Ha, at least he knows how to care for his familiars.”

“Implying I don’t?”

“Implying I’ve been a good, obedient, honest, helpful—”

“—modest—”

“—familiar to you, and you _still_ didn’t get me my eyeballs.”

“Merla, it’s not as easy as going to the butcher’s and asking if he wouldn’t mind packing me a bag of cow’s eyeballs for the go.”

“Isn’t it? It should be. Humans don’t know what’s good.”

Goro shook his head with a little, fond smile, and stood up from his position on the side of the bed where the stranger laid. His eyes kept going back over the man’s features. He looked a witch, like himself, and the broken broomstick sticking out of the rubble that was his kitchen right now confirmed as much, but somehow… he felt…

“What is it, Goro?” Merla cawed quietly, nudging his cheek again.

“I don’t know.” he shook his head softly. “There’s just something _different_ about him… and I’m not sure I like what it is.”

 

* * *

 

 It’s turned dark outside by the time the stranger woke up for the first time – and most of the afternoon, Goro had spent trying to get his kitchen back in order and fix the roof before the next day. It was going to be a stormy week from now on, too. Of course he got a huge hole in his roof and an unwanted guest just as the weather was getting way too bad to allow for such inconveniences.

Goro had managed to fix the hole in a solid, if not exactly aesthetically pleasing way, and was busy sweeping up the dust and rubble when he heard a pained grunt come again from the direction of his bed. Merla cawed softly and she flew out of her nest and perched on his shoulder again, peering curiously from behind Goro’s head as he neared the bed and sat on its side. Wide, a little bit disorientated quicksilver eyes met his own, and for a moment, they just looked at one another in silence, waiting for the other to speak first.

“…wow, you’re so pretty.” the raven slurred, and Goro could hardly do anything other than stare some more and blink in confusion while simultaneously trying to ignore a cawing laughter coming from his familiar at that.

“…concussion it is, I thought that might be the issue.” he summed up drily, sighing and pushing Merla off of his shoulder, if just to stop her from laughing. He frowned at the stranger and held up three fingers in front of him. “Can you hear me well? How many fingers can you see?”

“Of course I can… hear you… would be a pity if I couldn’t, you’ve a…” the raven frowned, blinking a few times. Definitely still disorientated, Goro decided. “…pretty voice. Yes. And, uh… five?”

“…that’s not right. Are you sure you’re…”

“Three up and two folded.” the raven grinned up at him, and Goro wanted to cringe. Instead, he shook his head and lowered his fingers.

“What’s your name?”

“Akira.” the raven smiled at him again, before slowly looking around the house he was in. “What’s yours? And where am I? And where’s—”

Before he could finish, though, a small creature – a cat, black with white patches, and spotting a yellow neckerchief – jumped from Akira’s side and right onto his still-healing wound, pulling a rather pained gasp from the raven. Goro raised his eyebrow, and did absolutely nothing to prevent the cat from digging his paws into the wound as it kneaded Akira’s chest.

“You _idiot_!” the cat snarled, its blue eyes glaring down at Akira, who was now feebly trying to push the cat off as it started to move up his chest, stepping, Goro noticed, on all three of his broken ribs. “I _told you_ it was too windy to practice flying! You could have broken your neck! You could have bled to death, if we weren’t lucky! You—!”

“Get _off_ me, Morgana, that _hurts_!” Akira groaned, and finally managed to push the cat off of himself. The creature hissed, before straightening himself up as he looked up at Goro and curious Merla, who was peering down at him from her nest.

“I apologize for my human. He’s an idiot. We didn’t mean to demolish your house.” he said, somewhat sheepishly. Goro felt himself smile.

“I’ve already established the idiot part, thank you. As for my house…” he sighed, waving his hand in the air. “It’s hardly something you were aiming for, as I understand, so I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“Do you _like_ idiots, though.” Akira hummed, and Goro chose to pretend he didn’t hear the comment.

“My name is Morgana. I’m this sorry excuse for a witch’s familiar. Can I ask your name?” the cat continued, and Goro nodded, just as Merla swooped down again – this time settling herself on the top of his head.

“Akechi Goro.” he said curtly. “This is my familiar, Merla.”

“That’s a cute name.” Akira smiled from his place on the bed and rose his good hand – and for one, embarrassing moment Goro has been absolutely convinced he was trying to cup his cheek and held frozen still, not sure how to react. Instead, Akira’s fingers pet softly down Merla’s beak, and Goro blinked and wondered – in a slight state of shock – why was he feeling just a tad disappointed.

“Can I call you Merry?”

“No, you _cannot_.” Goro snarled, moving away; if just to escape from the embarrassing weakness that spread over his chest for a second there, and which he absolutely didn’t understand. The witch stood up, walking sharply towards his shelf with potions, picking up a few of the vials there and again, trying to ignore Merla, who jumped off of his head and onto the bed as he was moving away, obviously hoping for more pets.

“I don’t mind if you do.” she cawed softly, and Goro sent her a scandalized look as Akira beamed.

“Merry it is! Morgana, don’t eat Merry, okay?”

“I would take out his pretty blue eyes if he tried.” Merla cawed sweetly, throwing the cat a look that made him blink and slowly back closer to Akira’s other hand. Goro rolled his eyes and sat back down; this time with a steaming bowl in his hands which he pressed gently to Akira’s lips, holding his head up with his other hand.

“Drink.” he ordered, trying to ignore the smile the idiot still wore as he closed his eyes and drunk obediently, without as much as a question. He really was an idiot. All he needed to ask was what was it, and Goro would tell him…

“…it’s… it’s for pain, and to help your bones grow back together.” he found himself murmuring, without knowing why he bothered with an explanation in the first place. “The bone-regrowth potion is mostly horsetail and oatstraw, and I added the essence of willow bark to relieve the pain and a sleep potion, so hopefully you’ll sleep some more and spare us all your nonsense.”

Akira only smiled at him and continued to drink; drawing a deep breath of relief once he was done, and Goro laid his head gently down. His quicksilver eyes looked up at Goro again, and the witch wished he thought absolutely _anything_ other than that these eyes were surprisingly pretty.

“Thank you.” Akira murmured quietly, smiling again. “For taking care of me… and sorry for falling down through the roof on you. Though I’m also kind of not sorry I did.”

“…please, do go to sleep.” Goro rolled his eyes.

“Will I see you again when I wake up?”

“…it’s _my house_. Where else would I go.”

“Okay.” Akira’s lips stretched in a smile that was somehow even more sweet, and Goro had an irrational urge to wipe that expression off of his face, because it was sending a rather strange, tingling sensation all over his body and he _definitely_ didn’t like it. “If that’s a promise, then…”

The raven closed his eyes again and soon after, Goro watched as his breath evened out. With a little sigh, the witch stood up and walked to the kitchen, coming back with two little plates – both filled with carefully-cut pieces of raw meat.

“There you go.” he said, setting one before Morgana and the second one up on a little shelf Merla had by her nest for exactly this purpose. Listening to the steady clicking of his familiar’s beak and Morgana’s delighted purring, Goro felt himself smile, reaching his hand out to scratch behind the creature’s fluffy ears. Merla let out a rather offended squawk at that, but the witch paid her no mind. His eyes strayed to the sleeping boy on his bed again; and somehow, though he tried, there was hardly any annoyance in his mind as he looked at that idiot who so unexpectedly literally fell into his life.

 

* * *

 

“So, you live alone.”

“I live with Merla, but correct. Eat your porridge.”

Akira huffed and stuffed a spoonful of porridge into his mouth, chewing and swallowing as fast as he could. It was the next morning. Goro was awake at the break of dawn again, this time doubly grumpy from sleeping on what nest he managed to make for himself on the wooden floor with spare blankets and pillows he had, and prepared them breakfast. He hardly even had time to finish his own plate and feed Morgana and Merla before the raven woke up, managed to pull himself into a sitting position and started to pelt him with questions.

“But there are other people around, right? Like, it’s a forest village or something?”

“Believe me, if there was _anywhere_ else I could put you in, I’d have done that by now.” Goro snarled, frowning at the raven, and then pointing at his half-eaten porridge with his chin. Akira rolled his eyes and shovelled two spoons into his mouth before starting to speak again.

“So you’re out here all alone? With Merry? Why?”

“Will you _stop_ calling Merla like this?”

“I don’t mind.” Merla chimed in helpfully, cackling when Goro shot her a hard look. He then looked back at Akira with a rather ugly scowl.

“I live alone because I don’t want strangers to go knocking on my door in search of my powers. That’s all.” he replied curtly, watching as these wide, pretty eyes blinked at him in confusion. Instead of waiting for another prying question, however, this time Goro opted for some of his own.

“What about you? How come you fell off your broom, in the middle of the forest, in clear weather? Just how bad a witch are you?”

Well, this certainly managed to shut Akira up. His ears glowing, the raven focused on his porridge; and it wasn’t until he was done with it and had nothing more to preoccupy himself with that he answered. Even that was probably because Morgana looked like he _really_ wanted to answer for him, too.

“…I lost control of my broom, and it tried to fly away.” Akira murmured in a small voice. “I _am_ a very bad witch. You can laugh. I’m _hopeless_.”

Somehow, Goro thought it would feel better, to see him admit that. Instead, it only felt… somewhat sad. The witch frowned, looking away as he took the plate from Akira and walked to his rather messy kitchen to clean it up.

“I only awakened to my powers few years ago, you know. When I was seventeen.” Akira called after him, making Goro frown as he looked over his shoulder at the boy sitting on his bed.

“That’s rather uncommon. Most witches discover their powers when they’re little. Mine manifested when I was only three. I don’t even remember life without magic.” Goro said, in a voice more surprised than what he wanted to let on. Akira smiled in a sad, somewhat bitter way that very clearly spoke _I know_.

Again, instead of savage satisfaction, Goro felt… _pity_. No one took seventeen-year-olds for apprentices. Akira probably had to teach himself, and these kinds of witches were often not only less powerful, but less respected and useful to others. The boy before him… he probably had quite some miserable life ever since discovering his powers.

Not that Goro himself had it any better, but… that was it, wasn’t it? He understood, on some level at least. For a moment, he allowed himself to feel sympathy.

“…you… you wouldn’t want to _teach me_ … would you?” Akira murmured quietly, and the bit of sympathy vanished as fast as it appeared. Goro frowned and turned away, washing the plate furiously, the water in a little basin he used as a sink splashing wildly.

“ _No_.” he drawled. “Your bones grow back together, and you’re _out of here_. I’m not teaching you magic, and I’m not letting you stay here one day over what’s absolutely necessary. Not a _chance._ ”

“…okay.” Akira murmured in a small voice. Goro had his mouth open already; ready to rebut any attempts at argument with another rejection. Akira’s quiet, sad acceptance of his decision felt like running into a wall, only to discover it was made out of thin air upon contact. And Goro has been left there; hands wet and mouth open, blinking at Akira’s face as the raven looked at Morgana, curled up beside him, purring like a little engine under his careful pets.

For a moment, the witch stood there, indecisive. And then, with a sigh, he walked over to one of his bookshelves; picking four thick tomes carefully out of the little library he had gathered there and carrying them over to Akira’s bedside.

“…I won’t teach you.” he murmured, looking away. “But… since you’re stuck here anyway, these might at least keep you quiet. It’s medicinal magic… protective spells… talismans… you should be able to get some basics from studying these.”

Akira’s face brightened up in one of his prettier smiles, and Goro wished he looked away before that smile could blind him.

“Thank you!” the raven grinned, already reaching for the first of the books, very gently hugging it to his chest. “I’ll study hard.”

 

* * *

 

To Goro’s great surprise, Akira _did_ study hard. And for the next few days, the witch tried hard to understand why, instead of being grateful and happy with the silence broken only by Morgana’s purrs and the soft rustle of pages, he was progressively more and more annoyed by it.

It wasn’t even that he didn’t have work to do himself. He did. There was the roof that, after the first rain, ended up leaking. There was the kitchen to clean up and make fully functional again. There was food and potions to prepare, dressings on Akira’s cut to change, medicine to give him.

And yet, even as he felt strangely calm and at peace during the evenings, when they both were sitting quietly by the shared candlelight and reading their respective books, Goro felt like he wouldn’t be _entirely_ opposed to some banter – or just learning more about Akira. What he told Merla on the first day the raven fell into his life was true – Akira _was_ different. It wasn’t until some time later, though, that Goro had found out what was it about him that made him so.

It was the first of the few storms that Goro had felt approaching; and thankfully, his renewed fixture of the roof held fast this time, with only very minor leak after the first few hours. Thunder rumbled and wind howled in the chimney, and Morgana curled up against Akira’s side as the raven watched Goro pace around the hut, looking out every window he passed with more and more worried expression on face.

“…maybe she just hid from the rain somewhere.” Akira tried, gently, only to bite his lip when Goro glared back at him. Merla had flew out in the morning, just as the dark clouds started to gather, as she said – to stretch her wings before the storm. She did not return since, and now, few hours later, Goro was on the verge of panic.

As if to mock them both, the wind hit hard against the side of the hut; and they could hear stray leaves and branches fall like rain over the roof, some even knocking hard on the windows. There was another strong gust, and then momentary silence; and in this silence, they both heard a distinct – if weak – rattling sound of a beak hitting on the door.

Goro almost ran to swing it open; revealing a very wet, very battered-looking Merla, one wing hanging limply from her side. The witch gasped and fell to his knees, trying to take her gently into his hands; only for the crow to caw in alarm and jump away, cawing in pain as she jumped into the hut, dragging the wing behind her.

“Merla… Merla it’s okay, it’s fine, I’ve got you.” Goro cooed, slamming the door shut and reaching out to his familiar again, only for her to caw at him in alarm once more and flap wildly off towards the bed, as if she tried to slink under it so she’d be at peace. The witch bit his lip hard and stood up, running up to his potion stand, hands feverish as he looked over the vials.

“She’s in pain, that’s all…” he mumbled, though his fingers were shaking. “She’ll start talking again once she’s less panicked, you’ll see. I need to just…”

“You’ll be okay.”

Akira’s voice was soft, sweet, melodious. Goro blinked, turning on the spot and watching as – as if hypnotized by the soft tune – Merla stilled in her quest to hide under the bed and, without moving, allowed the raven to reach down, gently resting his fingertips over her little, feathery chest. Akira’s face was pale, but his eyes were so filled with emotion – with sadness, with pain, with understanding – that Goro felt something deep in his own heart squeeze painfully as he watched the raven lean softly in and caress the place right over Merla’s small, rapidly beating heart.

“You’ll be okay, Merry. Goro will take good care of you. He’s the best healer there is, isn’t he? And he loves you more than anyone else in the world. He won’t be mad at you for going out, either. So don’t be scared, alright? Just let him help you. He’d never hurt you, after all.”

Again, that soft voice. Goro watched, in stunned silence, as Merla seemed to relax and nodded her beak lightly, and Akira smiled, pulling his hand away. When Goro broke out of his shock for long enough to move, and knelt by his familiar again to check her injured wing, she didn’t move away; and even gave him an affectionate pinch with her beak, and muttered a little, tired _thank you_ as he placed his hands carefully over the broken bones and closed his eyes, allowing his magic to flow and put the bones back in their places, nudging them to grow back together. Once he was done, Goro stood up again on wobbly legs and placed his familiar back in her nest. Before long, Merla was asleep; and Goro looked down at Akira, who was looking anxiously at him from his usual spot.

“…you’re a heart-healer.” Goro breathed, slumping down on the side of the bed, his eyes wide. “Why didn’t you _tell me_?”

“…I’m a _what_?”

“A _heart-healer_.” Goro shook his head, an expression of disbelief on his face. “A witch who possesses the gift to heal hearts! That’s… that’s _incredibly_ rare! It only manifests itself, what, once a century? Heart-healers are supposed to be able to heal all sorts of things, too! Not just soothe panic and pain, but also take away heartbreak and distorted desires, help heal over loss and…” the witch blinked, staring at Akira’s more and more confused face. And then, after a while…

“…you had no idea, did you.”

“I… I think you’re mistaken.” Akira murmured weakly, very gently setting down the book he was trying to read as the storm raged away. “I only talked to her. That’s what calmed her down. I always could—”

“That _wasn’t_ all! I could _feel_ the magic, it was strong enough to—” Goro felt the tips of his ears turn a little bit red as he cleared his throat and looked away. “…to affect me, as well, all the way back there. You’re a heart-healer. There’s no doubt about it.”

“But… I don’t know what to do… I didn’t know I was using any sort of magic when I calmed Merry down, I just wanted to help!”

For a moment, Goro simply sat there, still and quiet. Though his face has been calm and composed, there was a real battle raging inside of him right now; and one he wasn’t sure he knew how to win. In his heart, there was a strange yearning. He _knew_ – he had _studied_ what heart-healers, real, strong, powerful heart-healers could do. Flashing through his mind were so many memories; so many years of pain and mistrust and loneliness and misery. And the man sitting on his bed… this man could soothe it all down. This man could take all his pain away.

If only he had someone to show him _how_ …

“…I’ll teach you.” Goro whispered quietly, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Akira’s eyes widened and he leaned in; not even caring about the pain that moving so suddenly had to cause him. He grabbed Goro’s hand in his own and held it as he looked at him, these quicksilver eyes so beautiful, so hopeful.

“Will you? Will you really?” he whispered, almost in disbelief – and Goro felt himself smile gently, even despite himself.

“I will. If you promise that, once you know how, you’ll heal _my_ heart… I will teach you all I know about magic.”

Akira’s smile was soft and sweet and grateful; and Goro wondered if the boy before him hadn’t worked some of his magic right then and there on him, without even meaning to. And then, he felt these gentle hands squeeze on his own, and Akira’s soft voice as he whispered,

“It’s a deal.”

 

* * *

 

Merla had slept throughout the next day, and as Goro took her down to check on her wing and spoon-feed her some water and mashed-up fruit to give her sustenance, Akira never once stopped pelting him with questions.

“When will you start teaching me?”

“Once you’ve healed up. I need you able to walk and see everything I’m doing if I’m going to teach you.”

“How come you grew Merla’s wing back together and I’m stuck on the bed drinking that stinky potion every few hours?”

“That _stinky potion_ is magic as well. You’ll be fine within a week.” Goro scrunched his nose and put his familiar back on her nest before sighing as he started to slowly drag the large basin he’d sometimes take baths in to the middle of the room and prepare buckets to bring water from the well. “And I can’t heal you like I did Merla. It would tire me out too much to grow human bones back together, and might put _you_ in a coma. Healing you this way is slower, but safer.”

“Why would it tire you out?” Akira asked the second Goro finished speaking, and the witch scowled at him, before sighing again as he left the house with the buckets, coming back with all of them floating obediently behind him, before pouring some of the water into the basin and some of it – into the large cauldron Goro placed over the fireplace.

“Because,” he started, before Akira could ask his question again. “We’re witches, not gods. We cannot _create_ things. Magic we possess is ultimately the power to manipulate the reality around us, and that takes energy. The better you understand the world around you, the more creatively you can use and manipulate it with your powers. That’s why heart-healers are so rare – you have the power to heal emotions and feelings. Something that, for me, or any other witch, does not possess enough _substance_ to manipulate, let alone heal.”

“I still don’t understand how does that prevent you from healing me faster.” Akira scrunched his nose, and Goro rolled his eyes at him, sitting by the fire.

“Well, I told you already. Magic takes energy. Making your body grow your bones together would make me pass out by the time I was done. And as for the effect it would have on you, _think_. What does you body do right now, as it’s healing its broken bones and skin? It needs time, energy, resources to build up new skin and new bones. I could speed up the process; but your body still would need the same amount of everything to heal. Remember how badly you felt the first day? How much sleep you needed? And how weak you felt every day since, even with my potions and food and remedies? Try to imagine putting it all together and squeezing into a period of some ten minutes.”

Akira stared at him for a moment and then gulped quietly, laying back on his bed. Goro raised an amused eyebrow at him.

“I see I got you convinced. With Merla, it wasn’t dangerous for me to try and fix her wing right away. She was tired, but she’s well-fed and healthy, and her wing was only fractured and dislocated, not completely broken. Besides, bird bones are thin and empty, and a lot easier to put back together, especially for a bird that is my familiar and is magical herself.”

“How could you tell she only dislocated her wing? And with my bones, how did you know they’re broken and how to fix them?”

“…do you always ask this many questions?”

Akira pouted and flopped back on the bed, leaving Goro to chuckle and shake his head at him. The witch went to add a handful of herbs to the cauldron, waiting for the water there to boil; and just as it did, and Goro was getting ready to guide his cauldron gently to pour into the basin as well, he felt Akira’s inquisitive eyes on himself again.

“…are you making a potion? Will you teach me how to make potions, too?”

“I will, in time, but actually what I’m making right now is a bath for you. You _stink_.”

Judging by Akira’s reaction, Goro could have just said he was going to poison him, or throw him into the acid. The raven looked so absolutely horrified by the idea it actually made the witch laugh as he poured the boiling water into the basin, where it cooled down nicely as it mixed with cold one he poured there before. The herbs made it all smell very nice, too, and Goro spread out a few towels and set out few lumps of soap near it before nearing the bed with purpose in his steps.

“W-w-wait! I can go without a bath for a while longer, right? You’ve said… you’ve said I’ll be fine in a week!”

“You _stink_ , you’ve been going on without a proper bath for days now, and I don’t fancy getting lice and fleas onto my bed.” Goro frowned, poking Akira’s chest before throwing the blankets off of him. The raven groaned, turning cherry-red, though not trying to escape. He actually tried to assist the witch as he started to slowly and gently undress him. They were past the initial shame, since Akira needed Goro’s help to move his broken body to the bathroom and back whenever he needed to; but still, the witch was yet to see him _completely_ naked.

“…I can do it myself…” Akira mumbled weakly, shuddering as Goro pulled his shirt finally off and grimaced, throwing it into one of the buckets, before starting to work on the raven’s pants.

“No you can’t. Look… I’m sorry, but you’ll feel better and get healthy faster if we keep you clean and any infection off of your skin. Despite my potions, you still have cuts all over your body, I’d like to remind you. I promise I’ll try not to make it too awkward, okay?”

“…o-okay.” Akira mumbled, helping Goro undress himself with his healthy hand; and then, still blushing furiously, hooking it over the other’s shoulders as Goro helped him drag himself towards the basin and into the pleasantly warm water.

Even with all the awkwardness of the situation – especially as, over Akira’s feeble protests, Goro grabbed clean cloth and some soap and started to wash him – the raven gradually relaxed, obviously very much grateful to be able to get all the grime and sweat off of himself. With his healthy hand, Akira took care of washing whatever places he was _definitely_ not letting Goro take care of, while the witch soon moved behind him, pouring water over the mop of tangled, raven hair and starting to wash them for him. It worked – quite literally – like a spell. Ten seconds later, Akira was a purring mess under his fingertips, and Goro couldn’t help but feel a blush spread over his own cheeks as he watched  Akira’s face relax and his lips spread into a smile; watched his toned chest and long legs, even as they were still in the casts and hanging out of the basin; watched how _beautiful_ this man truly was.

Ah, he shouldn’t be doing that. Such thoughts were dangerous – and no matter whether Akira became his apprentice or not, he will, ultimately, leave. Goro needed to stay here, in the middle of this forest, after all. And Akira was not allowed to stay. No matter how long he will be forced to endure the presence of this boy… he shouldn’t be getting attached.

Soon, Akira was all clean; and Goro helped hoist him over onto towels instead, so the raven could dry himself while Goro rummaged in his chest for clothes which would fit him. Once dressed – in a shirt that was just a little too long, and which Goro tried to pretend did not look extremely cute on Akira – the witch changed the sheets quickly and helped the raven back on the bed, smiling as he relaxed there, closing his eyes and petting Morgana gently as he did.

“…hey, Goro?” Akira murmured; and Goro realized it had to be some of the raven’s heart-healing magic at work, the way his heart squeezed at the soft tone of his voice.

“Mhm?”

“Do you… It’s a big bed. I feel bad for making you sleep on the floor in your own hut. So… we could share for now? And once I’m healthy, I’ll move to the floor, promise.”

For a moment, Goro just stared at the raven. Akira kept his eyes closed; but from the blush raising steadily over the raven’s cheeks, Goro knew he wasn’t half-asleep and just mumbling random little things at him. He opened his mouth, about to refuse – and then…

“…okay.” he mumbled quietly, surprising even himself with it. Well, it _was_ a big bed. So… why not?

“Don’t get any ideas, though. This is just because I hate sleeping on the floor, and you’re not stinky anymore. Understood?”

“Of course.” Akira grinned and threaded his fingers through his damn, stupid, messy, soft hair. Goro closed his eyes and thanked whatever gods could hear him Merla was still asleep and unable to laugh, or comment at the two of them, and the matching set of flushed cheeks they sported.

 

* * *

 

The first night sleeping in bed with someone else was…

…strange.

Not in the bad sense of the word. After his bath, Akira seemed to be exhausted, and Goro didn’t blame him. The potions he was giving him sped up the process of healing, but it still required a lot of rest and frankly, there was something incredibly calming in the unguarded way Akira just slipped off into his dreams while Goro was busy smearing the almost-healed wound on his abdomen with an ointment. The thought that someone would feel safe and calm enough while being touched by him to just fall asleep like that warmed Goro’s heart in a way he didn’t think was possible before.

And then, as they both laid down in bed together that night, under separate covers of course, and with not an inch of them touching; and as Akira murmured _goodnight, Goro_ to him and the witch laid there, listening to his breath growing slow and steady again, he wondered just what on earth was he even doing with himself.

They woke up the next morning, each on their side of the bed and curled up under their own covers; and Goro tried to pretend that he didn’t feel slight disappointment, or that he didn’t blush when Akira smiled that outrageously pretty smile at him the moment he woke up and wished him good morning.

Over the next few days, this was about to become the new routine. After a day of keeping busy and fending off Akira’s seemingly bottomless well of questions about everything and anything, Goro would put up a screen, wash quickly, dress into his night clothes and slip into the bed, under his own blankets, trying to ignore how with each night they both seemed to gravitate more and more towards the centre of the bed. Each morning, he’d wake up a little closer, facing Akira’s sleeping form and allowing himself a moment… a minute… an _hour_ of watching the raven’s handsome, relaxed features, wondering what he dreamt of that put that little, sleepy smile on his lips.

After a week of that – and Goro seriously couldn’t understand why didn’t he stop this at some point and just move back to the floor, surely sleeping _there_ couldn’t be this bad – just as the witch had promised, Akira’s wounds closed up and his bones grew back together. He still was somewhat weak, but other than that, he was healthy; and Goro couldn’t help but smile as he took off his casts and pulled out the stitches, leaving Akira to sit up and flex his arms and legs wonderingly, letting out a never-ending surge of praise at Goro’s skill for everything to have healed up so nicely.

This marked the end of an era, and a start of another in their little hut.

The first change was that – since Akira was completely healthy now – the first night after his casts came off, the raven very pointedly moved to the still-there blanket nest Goro used to sleep in, looking rather pouty and miserable as he curled up there with Morgana. It took exactly five minutes until the witch sighed and rolled over on his spacious and annoyingly empty bed and murmured a grumpy _oh, stop pouting and get back in here_ , and Akira joined him in bed once more, grinning the widest grin Goro had seen him yet.

And their sleeping arrangements grew only more _problematic_ once Akira’s casts were off. Where before, they would gradually gravitate closer to each other, now they woke up touching. It was a brush of a hand against hand at first; then, they were all of a sudden holding hands, and when Goro woke up and saw them do so, he blushed and pulled his away immediately, not wanting Akira to be _getting ideas_.

Second change came with the fact that – just as Goro had promised – Akira could start to properly study with him now. The next day, Goro took out his broom and the pieces of the one Akira had crashed into his roof the day he fell into his hut and sat down on the soft, warm grass with the raven, these quicksilver eyes watching him so intently it almost made him smile.

“First thing I’ll teach you how to do,” Goro had said, finally unable to contain his amusement as he watched Akira rock excitedly on his place on the grass. “Is _flying_.”

It was as if someone pulled out a plug and drained all the excitement out of the raven’s face. Instead, there was slight disbelief and a tinge of fear and apprehension there.

“You— _what_? Aren’t you… shouldn’t you teach me… you know, _magic_ first? And besides, I just healed up! I don’t want broken bones again! And… and besides, I don’t even have a broom anymore, it’s all broken!”

 Goro sighed and didn’t reply, instead taking the pieces of Akira’s old broom and looking at them critically. It has snapped clean in half, thankfully; and as the witch pressed the pieces back together and closed his hands over the break, few minutes later it grew back together.

“…you were saying?” he smiled lightly up at the raven, who stared at the fully functional broom in Goro’s hands with some kind of disbelieving resignation.

“…how come you can’t  teach me how to fix brooms with magic instead?”

“Because I need to teach you flying before autumn starts for good, and wind starts blowing too hard for beginner’s lessons. We’re lucky I could fix your broom so easily, too; enchanting a new one to fly is a lot harder than fixing an already-enchanted one. Most of these have some fixing charms on them already, so it barely takes any magic from me at all.”

“…tch.”

“Akira.” Goro sighed, looking patiently at the apprehensive witch before him. “You can’t be a witch who’s afraid of flying. Do you know how many times I fell off my broom while learning how to fly? And I didn’t have a teacher, I had to figure out how to do it myself. You have me. So _relax_. Now… tell me how you tried to fly up until now.”

Akira sighed and looked up at Goro with some grumpiness, but mostly resignation as he pulled his knees to his chest and started to talk.

“Well… I got the enchanted broom from the witch in our town, and they’re pretty powerful, so I just… I figured it won’t be too hard. I just… sat on it, and tried to make it fly. And it worked, but, uh… it was super uncomfortable, and at one point, the broom started to… it was like it tried to fly by itself? And I finally lost control of it and we just… plunged down.”

“Alright.” Goro nodded, before smiling lightly as he leaned a bit back on the grass. “See, this is your problem. You don’t want to make a broom fly. It’s fully capable to do that itself, it’s already been enchanted. You want to make _yourself_ fly. Broom is just the means to that end.”

“…come again?”

“You can’t treat your broom as a… horse, or a cart to carry you in the air. You don’t think of making your legs walk so you can move, do you? You just… walk. It’s the same with a broom. You don’t want to make it fly. You want to make _yourself_ fly.”

“But if a witch can make themselves fly… why do we need a broom in the first place?”

Goro shrugged, looking amused.

“Can you walk without legs?”

“…point taken.” Akira smiled sheepishly; though when he looked at the broom laying on the grass beside him, his expression turned apprehensive again. Goro sighed – and then an idea came to his mind.

“…alright. So we’ll do it this way. I’ll take you for a little flight on my broom first; and you’ll see how it’s supposed to feel. And then you’ll try to fly on your own broom, low at first, and then as you feel more comfortable, we’ll try going higher. Hopefully we’ll be able to fly above tree level by the end of the week. Sounds good?”

“…yes. Thank you.” Akira mumbled, turning somewhat pink on his cheeks – and Goro definitely didn’t enjoy seeing him blush like this, or think he looked cute when he did. Instead, the witch stood up briskly and grabbed his own broom, straddling it with ease and turning back to look at Akira, patting the place behind himself. Judging by the way Akira neared him and took the place behind him, Goro could have just as well asked him to walk up the gallows. The raven let out a soft breath and wrapped his arms tentatively around Goro’s middle, and that definitely did not make the witch’s heart thump in his chest.

That was just excitement for the flight. For sure.

“…you want to hold on tighter.” Goro said after a moment, once Akira didn’t move to make himself more comfortable – or do anything, really. He felt the raven’s arms tighten around him and grinned. The familiar feeling of weightlessness soon filled him; and judging by the gasp behind him, Akira felt it too. Their feet slowly rose up from the ground as they levitated upwards gently, and he could feel the smile in Akira’s voice the next time he spoke.

“Hey, it’s not that ba—aaaaargh!”

The last word turned into an ear-splitting scream as Goro grinned and shot up, flying straight up and over the tree tops with such speed their hats fluttered wildly over their ears, wind tugging at their clothes as if it was a living being, trying to hold them back. Akira was still screaming, and Goro wasn’t about to slow down; feeling the raven’s hold tighten on himself even more, and feeling him glue himself to his back, he grinned all the more and only accelerated, laughing at the sheer _freedom_ flight brought with itself.

Soon, they zoomed to the very edge of the forest; and Akira gasped and groaned into his ear when Goro pushed the nose of his broom sharply down, making them take a graceful dive towards the dark-blue surface of the vast, beautiful lake they now flew over. Evening his flight once they were right over the surface, Goro finally slowed down a bit and smiled, nudging Akira’s trembling form with his elbow.

“Come on, open your eyes and look down.”

“I don’t want to!”

“Do it, or I’ll throw you off the broom.”

“Ugh…”

From the way Akira reluctantly peeled himself slightly away from his back, Goro knew he had obeyed him; and the stunned silence that followed told the witch he has achieved his goal. They were now flying very slowly; and with no wind, the surface of the lake was one giant, sapphire-like mirror. He could feel Akira lean a bit further away, staring at the two of them flying upside-down in the water; and then look around, at the breathtaking vastness of the lake, the dark-green of the trees around it, the turquoise-blue of the sky above them and the shine of the sun illuminating the scene.

“I’m going to go a bit faster again. Are you alright?” Goro hummed, and felt Akira nod softly against his back, still at a loss of words. He sped up, raising a bit higher over the water – and as the rush of air tugged on them again, he heard laughter – Akira was _laughing_ , and then moved one hand away from around him, raising it in the air, feeling the wind brush between his fingers.

The flew for a long time; high enough Akira could dip his hands in the cold dampness of the clouds, low enough he skimmed the tip of his shoe over the still water of the lake. Goro showed him the joy of flying high, almost straight up into the air, and the stomach-wrenching, exhilarating feeling of diving sharply towards the ground, pulling from the dive at the last possible moment, to Akira’s cheers and laughter.

By the time they landed back on the little clearing beside Goro’s hut, Akira itched to try flying by himself – and their lessons could proceed from there without any more hiccups.

They continued to hold flying practice every day from then on, as long as the weather was good enough; and by the end of the week, Akira and Goro raced effortlessly over the treetops, with Merla fluttering happily around them as they laughed and bickered over who won and which tree they were racing towards. Goro had to admit there was nothing more that he needed to teach the raven; and they could move onto another things.

And good thing they did, too. Soon after, Goro packed up all his potions and talismans and went for a semi-regular trip he had been making to the nearby town, coming back with fresh meat and vegetables, spices and herbs he couldn’t grow himself. And, since he had sold most of what he took with him, potions needed fast replenishing; and that was what they had started their more traditionally magical education with. For weeks to come, Goro made Akira find and memorize all the different herbs one could find in the forest around them; learn how to take care of them, how to pick them, which part was used for which purpose and how. At first, the raven was complaining – that potion-making was perhaps the least magical thing Goro could be teaching him, even less so than flying; that it was unnecessary, that he already knew a lot of it from books anyway. It took Goro and Akira making the same potion and Goro demonstrating that, though Akira followed the book to the letter, _his_ didn’t work while Goro’s did, for the raven to concede and stop complaining about there _not being enough magic_ in potions.

Days and weeks passed with them getting used to this new routine; and with every new day and every night, Goro felt himself more and more lost. He was already so used to waking up beside Akira; feeling his warm hand in his own or struggling under the raven’s arm that somehow ended up flung over his chest as they slept. He was already so used to taking out two big plates and two small ones for them whenever he set the table; grew so used to not having to cook every day, as Akira proved that however miserable his potions could sometimes be, when it came to food, he could cook _very_ well, and was happy to do so.

It was hard to imagine surviving a day without Akira there, helping him, learning from him, bickering with him, laughing with him. He became dangerously ingrained into Goro’s daily life.

“I don’t understand why you’re so upset about this.” Merla commented drily as they sat on the steps leading to Goro’s hut, watching as Akira ran around the clearing, laughing and rolling on the ground as he played with Morgana who skipped around him and jumped at him, as if trying to wrestle. Goro just finished telling his familiar about what’s been happening during the nights and during the mornings of late, and it really didn’t help that ever since her injury, Merla was more and more affectionate with Akira with every day the raven spent in their little hut.

“I’ve just _told you_.” Goro huffed; though his pout quickly turned into a helpless smile as Akira fell to the ground and laughed, Morgana jumping on his chest and yelling victoriously, obviously declaring himself the winner of their pretend-battle. Merla rolled her eyes at him. Goro wasn’t even aware crows could _do that_.

“Goro, why are you being so stubborn about this? You like this boy. He likes you back, that’s been clear from the moment he woke up after falling in here.”

“I _don’t_ like him. I mean— I do, alright, but it’s just a… not minding having him around way. That’s all.” Goro bristled up, only to frown at the look Merla was giving him. “ _Stop_ looking at me like that.”

“Like you’re an idiot? I will, once you stop being one.”

“…it doesn’t matter how I feel about him, anyway.” Goro mumbled, pulling one knee to his chest, his crimson eyes focused on Akira – who now seemed content to simply lay on the grass, basking in the sun and petting Morgana, who curled up on his chest and purred loud enough even Goro could hear him where he sat. “Once he heals my heart, he’ll be gone. And I’ll finally be able to go back to my peaceful life away from everyone.”

Merla sighed, fluttering up onto his head after knocking his hat off of it; her hard beak gentle as it poked lightly against his forehead.

“Is that what you really want? To be alone again?”

“…it’s how it’s best.” Goro murmured, and Merla sighed, nestling herself among his hair. She didn’t say anything afterwards; and Goro didn’t know whether to be grateful for it or disappointed that she didn’t try to persuade him more.

 

* * *

 

Akira had been getting more and more touchy during the nights recently; and during the days, too. The amount of times Goro had almost spoiled his potion because of the raven randomly leaning his chin against his shoulder and wrapping his arms around him, or skimming his hand affectionately against his own, or brushing his hair away from his eyes gently…

The witch didn’t know how to feel about it, honestly. He enjoyed the touches immensely, that wasn’t the case – but the fact alone that he _did_ enjoy them bothered him. No matter what he said to Merla and what he tried to convince himself of, Goro was getting more and more smitten with Akira; with his stupid, soft hair, quicksilver eyes and simple gentleness in every move and every kind word the raven directed at him.

It didn’t help, of course, that the raven seemed unable to go an hour without praising Goro’s skill with magic – or anything else, for that matter. Or even just telling him how beautiful he was. Or flirting with him.

But Akira was progressing in his studies; with a proper teacher to show him the ropes, it was incredible how fast he was learning. The until now untamed force within him was slowly bending to his will, slowly becoming one with him. And with every little progress Akira had made, Goro felt the time the raven will need to leave inching closer – and tried to beat down the sadness this realization brought with itself.

Days grew shorter as autumn came and spread itself over the forest around them; bringing thousands of colours onto the trees and painting the windows of their little hut with early-morning frosts. They took to spending their evenings curled up in front of the fireplace with a book and a mug of steaming hot-cocoa each; and at some point, Akira moved closer here, too, and Goro wished it wasn’t so comfortable and warm to rest his back against the raven’s side as they sat, reading together.

That evening wasn’t any different; and Goro has just taken off his hat and wrapped himself tighter in a blanket when he felt Akira’s fingers brush through his hair – the clearest indication he was about to ask one of his questions about whatever he was reading that day.

“…what is it?” Goro murmured after a moment, moving his own book away, just in case. Akira let out a soft hum and leaned a little bit more against him; and Goro wished he didn’t, because he really didn’t need blood rushing to his cheeks right now, and nor did he need his heart squeezing softly in his chest.

“You’ve told me we’re done with potion-making for now.” Akira murmured after a while, making Goro blink at him in surprise.

“Yes..?”

“But you’ve never taught me how to brew this one.” Akira pointed to the page in his book, and too late did Goro realize that if he turns to look at it, Akira will be pretty much seated in his lap, his back against the witch’s chest. Not that the raven seemed to mind, if the way he settled himself there comfortably was any indication. Still, Akira seemed to blink in surprise when he felt Goro tense as he saw what the raven was pointing at.

“What’s the matter..?”

“I’m not teaching you how to brew this one. No one should be brewing it, or giving it to anyone else.”

“…what, a love potion?” Akira snorted, lolling his head back to look at Goro upside-down; and frowning at the tense expression the witch had as he looked back at him. Akira straightened up and turned around, frowning at Goro, taking his hands gently in his own – the book forgotten.

“Hey… it’s just a potion, right? I bet a lot of people wouldn’t mind a little help in getting their crush to like them back. So why—”

“That’s not what this potion does.” Goro snarled, pulling his hands away and frowning at the raven as he crossed his arms over his chest. “If you think that is its use, then you’ve just confirmed I made a good call not teaching you how to prepare it.”

“…but it’s just a _love_ potion.”

“You _cannot_ force anyone to feel love, Akira.” Goro said sharply, tugging the book from Akira’s hands and slamming it shut, hard, only briefly avoiding catching the raven’s fingers between the pages. The quicksilver eyes of the other witch looked at him with a frown, asking for an explanation; and Goro felt himself sigh, standing up and carrying the book back to its rightful place on the shelf. He was still standing with his back to Akira when he started to talk, quietly, voice almost lost in the crackling of the fire.

“Love potion is one of the most misleadingly named potions in existence. There are other names, of course. The essence of mandrake, or the sweet-flag potion, from the two most prominent ingredients, for example… and yet everyone calls it a love potion. As if something like love could ever be closed up in a vial.” Goro sighed, stroking the cover of the book before crossing his arms over his chest, continuing his quiet lecture.

“Of course, after having the intended person drink it, at first you will observe symptoms similar to that of a first love. The person in question will become infatuated with you; but it will be nothing but temporary obsession. They will adore you; they won’t be able to go on without you. You will be able to manipulate them into doing anything you want…” Goro’s voice turned cold, disgusted.

“…until you stop giving them the potion. It has only a short-lasting effect; and all it takes is for one dose to be skipped for the person in question to come to their senses, and realize what had happened to them. There are some cases where love potion doesn’t work, of course – and these are the ones where the intended person was in love with the person offering in the first place. Then, love potion will have no effect whatsoever, except perhaps some aphrodisiac qualities, though even that is still debated among witches. For anyone else… oh, just imagine, Akira. You wake up one day, after perhaps months of not being fully yourself… and realize someone has been taking advantage of you, has been making you do things you didn’t want to, has been… _using_ you. And you can remember all that, can remember in excruciating detail every despicable thing that person did to you. Many people go mad after being under the effect of love potion for sufficiently long. Others commit suicide, unable to live with themselves afterwards.”

There was a long silence between them; and then, Goro heard Akira stand up from his spot by the fireplace; felt his arms wrap very slowly around his middle, felt his chest press against his back – and with that touch and that warmth, Goro felt strange weakness spread over his body. It felt so terribly difficult to move away, and he was so tired; and so, he simply allowed himself to melt against the raven’s chest, his hands covering Akira’s own.

“…was it… did someone close to you, did they…”

“…my mother.” Goro whispered, without even knowing why. He never spoke about this. Not even to Merla; not to anyone.

“…your mother was slipped a love potion against her will, then?”

“I’m what’s called a _mandrake child_. A child conceived under the influence of love potion. Twisted and dirty like a mandrake root, they say. _Cursed_.” Goro closed his eyes; and felt Akira’s hands, warm and comforting, slowly travel up; felt the raven’s fingers press over his heart as his magic reached into him. It was gentle and warm, the very opposition of forceful; and Goro felt himself relax, feeling it touch his heart.

“Please, tell me more?” Akira whispered into his ear; and Goro bit his lip. He felt weak all of a sudden, weak and vulnerable. And in Akira’s hold, somehow, it felt alright to be weak. It was a thought so contradictory to all he knew; all he ever experienced, that the witch had an extremely hard time processing it. He… he didn’t want to say anything. He didn’t want Akira to know, but…

“Goro…” Akira’s voice was soft and melodious, and filled with the sweetest, most gentle form of magic Goro had ever experienced on himself. “If you won’t tell me what hurts you… how am I supposed to heal your heart…?”

“…there are many herbs you need to use to brew a love potion. And, thankfully, it is one of the trickiest ones out there. Only a handful of witches are able to brew it correctly. My good-for-nothing father was one of them…”

Goro spoke; and as he did, he felt the old pain ooze from his heart, like puss oozing out of a wound. It felt terrible; it hurt. And somehow… it also made him want to go on.

“I don’t know why he gave it to my mother. I don’t know how come she drunk it. But he didn’t care enough to continue giving it to her long-term. Once he took what he wanted, he vanished; and nine months later, she had me. A child she didn’t want. A child no one wanted, and least of all my father…”

“I thought witches were not allowed to have children. I didn’t even think it was possible for us to—”

“I guess I’m sort of a miracle in this regard.” Goro said, voice bitter and filled with venom. He felt the hand against his chest press closer against him and shuddered; the warmth of Akira’s touch calming him down, promising him freedom and comfort and understanding like no one else ever did.

“…she died, soon after I was born.” he continued after a moment. “I told you before, I exhibited my powers very early. That was when that man appeared again. All of a sudden, he was more than happy to accept me … or so I thought.”

Another bitter smile; and another shudder, as Goro felt a surge of warmth spread through him – and then… then he felt something wet against his shoulder.

“Are you… crying?” he whispered in disbelief, slowly turning around; and Akira smiled at him through tears. In these quicksilver eyes that Goro adored; that he always found too fascinating, too beautiful to look away from, he saw… he saw _himself_ …

“Tell me more.” Akira whispered, and Goro did, enchanted by the look the raven’s eyes had; by the infinite sadness in them. He told him about being taken in; about the studies he underwent, about the cruelty and neglect he was forced to endure. About scars that never truly healed; about memories that felt too painful to elaborate on. And as he went on, Akira cried; and for the first time in his life, Goro felt like he needed, _had to_ stop him from crying. Like he had to make him feel better. The little boy hiding in Akira’s eyes – or perhaps just in Goro’s mind – the sad, little boy, unwanted and not needed, only used as a toy or a tool for people who wanted his power and his magic, and not whom he really was… he wanted to comfort this boy. He didn’t want him to cry…

And so he told Akira about his escape; about teaching himself how to fly, stealing his broom and flying away on it. About the refuge he had taken in this quiet forest, in the middle of nowhere, where no one could find him, no one could hurt him anymore. He told him how he found Merla; just a little nestling which fell out of her nest, barely alive and cold. He told him how it felt; to hold her in his hands and feel that little heart beat thanks to him, how it felt to nurse back to health the one creature that didn’t expect to be given the gifts he was so willing to share. How they lived together in his little hut since then; how Merla, soaking up his magic, soon became his familiar and companion. He told him of loneliness and peace, and then…

“…and then, you appeared.” Goro whispered, blinking away his own tears – when did he start crying as well? – and reaching up, wiping Akira’s wet cheeks, eyes locked with the raven’s quicksilver gaze. A sharp pang of pain stabbed through the witch’s exhausted heart and he sobbed, clutching into Akira’s shirt as the raven held him tight; his warm hand still pressed over his heart, gentle and healing, his magic still present within him, soothing the pain, drawing out the poison.

Goro didn’t realize when did he fall limp in Akira’s arms; when did he fall asleep, exhausted and drained, tears still streaming down his cheeks. He didn’t feel Akira’s gentle arms hoist him up and carry him to bed, and yet, as the raven tried to pull away, his hands twisted into Akira’s shirt by themselves, keeping him close.

The raven smiled, pressing a soft kiss to Goro’s forehead before sighing as he got into the bed as well, pulling a blanket over the two of them.

“…no complaining about me cuddling you in the morning, okay?” Akira whispered, pulling Goro tightly against his chest and smiling as the witch nuzzled him, wrapping his arms around him in return. Soon, both of them fell into deep, peaceful sleep; and though his cheeks were still wet and eyelashes glued together with tears, Goro smiled gently in his sleep, feeling safe and cared for, for the first time in his life.

 

* * *

 

It was early morning when Goro woke up, feeling stiff and uncomfortable, but oh, so very warm.

His vision was obstructed by something black and soft; and as he moved away a bit, the thing in question was revealed to be Akira’s shirt he’s been snuggling into for most of the night. The witch blushed and awaited the usual bout of panic the surge of affection running through him would normally invoke – only to blink when nothing of the sort happened.

He only felt happy. Calm, well-rested and… happy.

For a long time, Goro simply laid there, in Akira’s arms, allowing his mind to slowly wake up and take in the situation. There was no hurry to get up; and more than that, he felt like he could simply lay down and _enjoy_ himself, for once. It was a new feeling, but not an unpleasant one.

Akira stirred in his sleep, and Goro smiled as he felt the raven’s arms tighten around him, pulling him even closer against the raven. His own – which were up until now resting against Akira’s chest – sneaked around him now, returning the hug just as tightly.

“Ah… you’re awake.”

Akira’s voice was soft and sleepy and with a smile in it; and Goro closed his eyes, hiding his face in the crook of the raven’s neck, just because he could. He could feel Akira’s laughter reverberate deep from within his chest and pressed his hand against it, marvelling at the feeling of heartbeat against his palm.

And again, even as he allowed himself to be silly, to drink in the moment, to be affectionate – there was no fear. No self-loathing. No bad memories. Sweet contentment filled Goro up like sunlight, and the source of that light was there, holding him in his arms. The realization came naturally – as did memories of last night.

“…you did it, then.” he murmured, still against Akira’s neck. The raven had to be ticklish – he squirmed as Goro’s lips brushed over his skin, and somehow, that thought made something sweet and warm bloom in Goro’s chest. It was _cute_. “You healed my heart.”

“I… really think you did most of the healing, though.” Akira smiled lightly, bumping his head against Goro’s; and the witch remembered with a slight shudder how he looked into Akira’s eyes and saw himself. Not only his reflection in these quicksilver depths, but himself as he truly was; beneath his skin, under all his masks. He saw a little, scared, abused boy, and he tried to help him… it only so happened that, in the end, he seemed to have succeed.

“I didn’t expect it would be like that.” Goro whispered, tightening his hold on Akira. “I didn’t expect it to… hurt quite so much, I suppose. And it hurt you, too, didn’t it…”

“I… Well.” Akira hummed, smiling sheepishly against the top of Goro’s head. “As you spoke… it felt like… like everything you were saying was happening to me. All that pain… all that loneliness… I had no idea it would be like that, either.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be. I’m… I’m glad I got to know you better, however weird that sounds.”

Goro snorted quietly and was glad to hear Akira laugh as well. And then, after a moment…

“Goro…?”

“Mhm?”

“I… I healed your heart.” Akira’s voice was quiet, almost hesitant. It made Goro frown in slight alarm, the way he suddenly sounded so unsure.

“Does that mean… will you ask me to leave now..? Since I did?”

Goro smiled a bit. Yesterday, he would have said _yes_ without hesitation – and perhaps regret saying it, for the rest of his life. Today, he was held close in Akira’s arms – with Merla stirring in her nest from all their talking and Morgana purring loudly somewhere against his back. Today, sun was shining at their little family from the window behind them and illuminating Akira’s messy hair and adorable blush as Goro pulled away from the hug, cupped both his cheeks and kissed him; pressing their lips together soft and sweet, and then smiling as after a second of surprise, Akira let out a little sound and pulled him infinitely closer against himself, kissing him back with so much love and hunger and _want_ Goro wondered why had he been so stupid and denied himself such sweetness for so long.

It took a while for them to part; and they were not about to move any further apart from one another, even as they caught their breath.

“…let’s put it this way.” the witch smiled, the tip of his nose brushing against Akira’s jaw. “Do you _want to_ leave?”

“…after the literal angel on earth just kissed me?” Akira laughed breathlessly, shaking his head with a sweet little smile.

“Not a chance.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by [Alex](https://twitter.com/maruitenshi) and her cute witch boyfriends which you can see [here](https://twitter.com/maruitenshi/status/1050483119730675714)!
> 
> If you like my stories, you can find me on twitter [@mikan_writings](https://twitter.com/mikan_writings) and/or tumblr at [mikan_writings](https://mikan-writings.tumblr.com/)!


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